A portrait of the royal stallion Laldan Bebha, attributable to Bhavanidas, India, Rajasthan, Kishangarh, circa 1730-35

This elegant painting, displaying the exquisite attenuation characteristic of the Kishangarh style in the second quarter of the eighteenth century, is a second version of a portrait depicting the prized royal horse Laldan Bebeha from the royal Kishangarh stables. The other version, formerly in the Sven Gahlin Collection and sold in these rooms, 6 October, 2015, lot 54, had been attributed to the leading Kishangarh artist Bhanavidas. The only difference in the composition between the two is that the incense burner held by the grey-bearded groom is closed here, whereas it is open in the Gahlin version.

The artist Bhavanidas (circa 1680-1748) was active in the Mughal court circa 1700-19, thereafter moving to Kishangarh in Rajasthan, to become its leading artist under the patronage of Maharaja Raj Singh (r.1706-48), importantly contributing to the development of the highly distinctive Kishangarh style, within which there developed a specific genre of horse portraiture of the Raja's favorite royal horses with their grooms, as in our present drawing. 

For further discussion and references see Falk, 'The Kishangarh Artist Bhavanidas', Artibus Asiae, LII, 1/2. 1992, notice 1; N. Haidar 'Bhavanidas' (essay) in M.C. Beach, E. Fischer, B. N. Goswamy, Masters of Indian Painting 1650-1900, Artibus Asiae Sup 48 I/II, 2011, p.531-546, p.544, figs.12 and 13; Sotheby's London, 6 October, 2015, Lot 54; Sotheby's London, 9 October, 1978, Lot 262 and Sotheby's London, 12 October 1990, Lot 55.